Equestria Tails
by DayDreamer95
Summary: Follow the kooky adventures of an unlikely cast of characters as they try to deal with the daily struggles of everyday life.
1. A Night to Remember, Part 1

_**Episode 1: A Night to Remember, Part 1  
**_

Written by MasterOfYourFate in collaboration with DayDreamer95

It was a bright and warm day, with the sun's rays shining down on the neighborhood of Faustina Hills. Birds were chirping cheerfully from the trees, cars were moving up and down the streets, the lawns were freshly mowed and constantly watered by sprinklers, and fillies and colts played without a care in the world under an azure sky populated by fluffy white clouds. Two sparrows, flitting about in a haphazardly elegant dance through the air, happened to pass by one house in particular marked with the number 212.

Inside this house, its unusual collection of residents carried about their normal daily routines. A robot pony named Nano, with blue eyes, silver plating, and a red bandana around his neck, was busy vacuuming with a special extension built into his right front hoof (as he seemed to do quite a lot; he liked to keep a clean house); Octavia was upstairs in her room, holding her cello in a close embrace as she coaxed sweet notes of music from it; and Trixie was in the kitchen, enjoying a hay sandwich with a glass of milk as she flipped through a book about magic tricks.

In the living room with Nano, on the couch, there was a young, grey male unicorn with golden eyes and a spiked blue mane was quarreling over the remote for the television with none other than Iron Will.

"I don't want to watch the stupid cooking channel!" the grey unicorn, named Alistar, exclaimed. "The big hoofball game is about to start!"

"Iron Will needs to learn how to make good muffins so he can give them to his mom!" Iron Will countered, which elicited a facehoof from Alistar.

"Then go read a cookbook," said Alistar through gritted teeth. "Now, give me the remote!"

"No, this remote belongs to Iron Will now!"

The two played tug-of-war with the remote for a while before Alistar proposed a solution to this problem. "Look, let's settle this like adults. Let's play rock, paper, scissors. Winner gets the remote."

After a pause to consider this, the minotaur said, "Iron Will accepts."

Alistar held his right front hoof out, while Iron Will held his right hand out. Alistar counted down.

"Three . . . Two . . . One!" Alistar then called out, "Scissors!"

A moment after, Iron Will bellowed, "_ROCK!_" With that, he threw his fist forward, punching Alistar with enough force to send the stallion flying backwards into the wall. Iron Will caught the remote as it was flung from Alistar's grasp, and casually sat down on the couch, flipping the channel to the cooking channel. Alistar groaned, all but unconscious as he rested within the pony-shaped hole he had created in the wall. Without turning his eyes from the television, Iron Will gloated, "Iron Will wins again."

Nano threw Iron Will a stern look, not quite happy with the mess that he would now have to clean up. "Iron Will, that is the fifth time this week you've created a hole in the wall with your so-called 'games,'" the robot pony stated.

"He'd better not bring this house down," Trixie cried from the kitchen. "The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't want to live in her stagecoach again!"

And from upstairs, having heard the racket, Octavia paused in her cello playing and said, "What was that noise? Did Iron Will make _another_ Alistar-shaped hole in the wall?"

"Iron Will can't help it," the minotaur said as somewhat of an apology. "Iron Will gets caught up in the competition of these games of ours!"

The door then burst open, thrown open by powerful magic that belonged to a dark entity. Nano, Iron Will, Alistar, and even Trixie all turned to look. Standing in the doorway was a black mare, easily as tall as Celestia, with a shimmering, ethereal mane and tail that was purple streaked with white, deep azure eyes, and diamonds that resembled stars for a cutie mark. At first glance, some mistook her for Nightmare Moon, but it would then be noted that she had no wings, only a long, slender horn. It was the corrupted version of the former Element of Generosity, Nightmare Rarity. She was holding something within the dark purple aura of her magic—an envelope, which seemed to have been already opened.

"Everypony," she said, her voice smooth and dark, "I have an announcement." She paused for a moment, scanning the faces of each pony present. Trixie made her way into the living room, while Nano and Iron Will gazed at Nightmare Rarity curiously, and Alistar pried himself from the hole in the wall only to flop onto the floor with a grunt. Nightmare Rarity continued with a flourishing gesture of her hoof, "I have been invited to the grand and magnificent Canterlot Ball!"

"Is that so?" Trixie said, turning her uninterested gaze away. "I was hoping you'd say that the Royal Guard finally got you, and you were waiting for an audience with the princesses to determine your punishment." The blue unicorn walked back to the kitchen to resume eating her sandwich; annoyed, Nightmare Rarity used her magic to make the sandwich implode in Trixie's face. The dark mare smirked upon hearing Trixie shriek.

Disregarding what had just happened, Nano said, "Congratulations, Rare."

"That is great news!" Iron Will agreed. "So, who are you going to the ball with?"

"Well . . ." Nightmare Rarity paused, looking down at the floor for a moment. "That is yet to be determined. So I shall be undertaking my greatest, most challenging task yet: finding a date!" She proclaimed this with confidence, but Trixie, after cleaning the bits of bread and hay from her mane and returning to the living room, only laughed.

"Good luck with that," Trixie sneered. "Remember all the other times you've tried to get a date?"

This triggered a series of flashbacks for Nightmare Rarity as she recollected at once several times she had tried to obtain a date.

_One of the many times was when Nightmare Rarity was in a dance club. One of the stallions at the bar had caught her eye, so she approached him._

"_Hello there," she had said to him, attempting a sultry tone. "Would you perhaps like to buy me a drink?"_

_But she never got her response, for the poor colt had been literally petrified by the shocking combination of her elegant beauty and her intimidating presence, and he fell from his chair onto the floor, crumbling into pieces._

_The janitor sighed as he came by, passing a stupefied Nightmare Rarity and sweeping up the pieces as he muttered, "That's the third one this week . . ."_

"And let's not forget the time she actually managed to get a stallion to go out with her," Iron Will interjected, triggering another particular flashback.

_Nightmare Rarity and her date were at a restaurant, actually enjoying one another's company. That is, until Nightmare Rarity initiated what she thought to be "pleasant" conversation—which was not so much so for the stallion she was with._

"_So, what shall we do later on?" she was asking with a smile, leaning forward with her elbows resting on the table. "Perhaps we could watch a horror movie, with gore and violent scenes that would inspire fear in our hearts . . . Or we could plot devious tricks against other ponies, to revel in their misery . . . Maybe we could even work on a plan to bring about eternal darkness! Haha!"_

_Her words had chilled the stallion to his very core, and he seemed to shrink in his seat before he yelped, "Check, please!"_

"Oh, and how about the time she tried online dating?" Alistar said with a chuckle, which brought about yet another flashback.

_Nightmare Rarity had just made an account on the social networking site, Hoofbook. To her delight, her inbox was flooded with friend requests, most of them from stallions. One of them even posted a question on her wall, asking her what kind of hobbies she had. _

_Smiling, she placed her hooves on the keyboard and started to type in an answer, mentioning things like plunging Equestria into an era of darkness, torturing innocent fillies and colts and many other "intriguing" favorite hobbies. And as soon as it was posted, the friend requests vanished in the blink of an eye. A new keyboard had to be purchased after she slammed her hoof down on the former keyboard and broke it in anger.  
_

Iron Will cut in again, saying, "And need Iron Will remind you about the poor pizza delivery colt who nearly had a heart attack when you confronted him about being a few minutes late? I pity the fool! And to think he actually asked you for a tip."

"The point is," said Octavia as she walked down the stairs, having overheard the later part of the conversation, "you just don't get along very well with stallions. Or most other ponies, for that matter."

"Well!" Nightmare Rarity exclaimed indignantly. "Maybe I simply have to find a different kind of stallion. Someone . . . Someone unique. Someone different than all the rest . . ."

"I shall make the sacrifice," Alistar declared valiantly. All eyes turned to him as he stood on his hind legs on the couch, one hoof over his chest, his chin tilted up. Once he was certain he had everypony's attention, he jumped down and landed in front of Nightmare Rarity, kneeling before her. "My lady . . ." he said softly, taking her hoof into his. "I shall gladly accept the honor of being your date. I shall treat you like a queen. We'll dance most elegantly, and I'll whisper sweet nothings in your ear."

A sly smile spread across his face as he leaned closer, his muzzle almost touching hers. "And then I'll take you home, and we can explore all of your wonderful schemes to take over the world," he purred seductively.

Nightmare Rarity was not amused in the least. Her expression was deadpan as she lifted up the television with her magic and dropped it on Alistar's head. His head was now inside the television as he muttered dizzily, "And now it's time for the weather report . . ." before he fell flat on his back with a groan, falling unconscious.

"Fool," Nightmare Rarity grumbled. "I need someone truly special."

"You're the fool," Trixie said derisively. "If I were you—and thank Celestia I'm not—I wouldn't have turned down an offer from the only stallion that would ever date me."

"Quiet, you egotistical mare!" Nightmare Rarity hissed.

"So, what are you going to do?" Nano inquired as he pulled the television off of Alistar's head, revealing that the stallion was barely conscious, dizzy and with a lump on his head.

"Something tells me . . . I'm not in Kansas anymore . . ." Alistar murmured woozily.

Nano kept his attention on Nightmare Rarity as he then said, "Are you just going to pass up the opportunity and throw the invitation in the trash?"

"Of course not!" said Nightmare Rarity. "I'll find someone . . ." Her gaze began wandering around the room, scanning each of the males. First she looked at Iron Will and mused aloud, "Strong, yes, but hardly any brains to match his muscle." Then her eyes settled on Alistar, who was still rather dizzy. "Lacking in self-esteem . . ." Finally, she looked at Nano, and a smile crept onto her face as she walked towards him. "Mm, yes . . . I suppose you'll do just fine . . ."

"M-M-Me?" Nano stuttered, pointing to himself with his hoof questioningly.

Nightmare Rarity chuckled softly, the tip of her mane drifting up and caressing the robot stallion's chin gently. "Yes, you. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner . . . You are quite special, after all."

Nano quickly shuffled a few steps backwards. "Well, I-I don't think I'll be able to attend the ball. I have a lot of, um, cleaning to do. Yes! Lots and lots of cleaning! So . . . I apologize!" He attempted to flee then, only to have Nightmare Rarity lunge forward and pin him to the wall with her front hooves. He yelped and admitted the truth out of fright. "I . . . I know what you desire, b-but I'm afraid to . . . to disappoint you if I were to be your date. I don't think I should even be considered an option for you."

"Nonsense. Don't speak so lowly about yourself," Nightmare Rarity purred, her mane reaching and lifting Nano's chin so that his gaze met hers. He gasped the moment he looked into her eyes, for they had turned from their normal deep blue to a glowing ice blue hue as the room seemed to suddenly darken around them. And yet, she still kept a kind smile on her face and a honey-sweet tone in her voice as she uttered her next words. "If you don't go to the ball with me . . . I will turn you into a pile of scrap metal. I can promise you that."

Nano began to tremble, his metal joints clacking together; he was scared out of his wits by the black mare's intimidating words. "Okay, okay!" he whimpered. "You win! I'll take you to the ball! Just don't turn me into scrap metal, please!"

At once, the room returned to normal, as did Nightmare Rarity's gaze as she smiled happily at him. "Why, thank you very much. I do appreciate it."

"I pity the metal fool for becoming putty in her hooves!" Iron Will yelled, expressing his frustration at Nano's lack of assertiveness.

"Now, come with me," Nightmare Rarity said to Nano, taking his hoof and beginning to pull him upstairs. "I believe we have a bit of training to do before the ball." And so she dragged him into her dark, gloomy, uninviting room. She then asked him, "So, do you know how to dance?"

"Well, um . . ." Nano rubbed the back of his head, and then said, "I know how to do the Robot." He offered a demonstration, dancing in a stiff, mechanical manner.

Nightmare Rarity interrupted him. "No, no, no. That absolutely will not do," she asserted. She then grasped a disc from the shelf with her magic and inserted it into the DVD player. The video that came on depicted ponies performing various types of dances such as the tango. "See? This is how one dances."

Nano tilted his head slightly to the left. "I . . . see."

Nightmare Rarity prompted him then, "You can scan or analyze this or something, yes?"

Nano nodded before using his optic sensors to scan the video, analyzing the movements shown on the screen.

After he was through with that, Nightmare Rarity asked him, "So, you think you can do it?"

The robot stallion looked at her. "I think I can." He paused, and then inquired sheepishly, "But does this mean I have to . . . touch you?"

Nightmare Rarity rolled her eyes. "Yes. Dancing with a partner typically involves touching."

He hesitated for a moment. "Well, okay then. Let's . . . dance." He stood on his hind legs, taking one of Nightmare Rarity's hooves into his own and placing his other hoof on her waist. She also stood, resting her free hoof on his shoulder. Only then did the robot realize how off this seemed, particularly when the mare was so much taller than him. "Y-You do know that this looks . . . awkward, right?"

"Well, I can't help how tall I am, now can I?" Nightmare Rarity retorted. "So don't complain about it." With her magic, she pressed a button on her iPod and music began to play. The two began to dance, and to the dark mare's surprise, Nano danced surprisingly well—maybe a little _too_ well. He went through the motions so quickly, she found that she had a hard time keeping up; and at times, his grip was a little too tight, forcing little yelps of pain out of her. "Oh . . . Ah! E-Easy, now . . . Ow, you're doing it too hard! Be gentle . . ."

Just then, Octavia and Alistar happened to be walking past the closed door to Nightmare Rarity's room. Upon hearing Nightmare Rarity's yelps, Alistar began to smirk as certain thoughts crossed his mind. He turned to Octavia and said slyly, "I guess Nano's . . . working her up really good, if you know what I mean."

Octavia slammed her right hind leg into him, sending the unicorn crashing through a window. "Honestly," the grey mare sighed. "You need to get your mind out of the gutter. You'll end up with brain damage at this rate." She paused, glancing out the now-shattered window. "Oh wait, too late for that."

Inside Nightmare Rarity's room, after the dance session, Nano said, "I guess I . . . learned the moves. What's next?"

"Next, you need to have the proper mannerisms," said Nightmare Rarity. "If you were to meet a mare, what would you say to her?"

"Um . . . 'Greetings'?"

Nightmare Rarity huffed softly in exasperation. "Well, yes, but beyond that. What would you _talk_ about?"

Nano rubbed his chin with his hoof as he thought for a few moments. "Well, my most favorite topics of discussion would be physics, chemistry . . ."

He was cut off almost immediately by Nightmare Rarity. "Oh, no, no, no. You would bore them to sleep, darling. You need to bring up a more interesting topic."

"Like . . . what?"

"Well, what do you think would be interesting to a mare?"

"Um . . . Those 'adult' movies that Alistar likes to watch at 3 o' clock in the morning?"

Nightmare Rarity's eyes widened at the thought of said movies, and a bright blush bloomed across her dark complexion. It took a few moments for her to regain her composure, and even then she was still blushing slightly. "No . . . Don't talk about that. Please."

"Well . . . Okay, then. But, I do not know any other topics of conversation."

"You don't? You're absolutely certain of that?"

"Uh, well . . . I did hear Trixie talking about 'gossip' and such . . ."

Nightmare Rarity smiled, daring to feel a glimmer of hope. "Hm, yes, well, some mares do indeed like to gossip." She then asked out of curiosity, "What kind of gossip did Trixie mention?"

Nano stated innocently, "She thinks that your flank is so big, it could eclipse the sun."

Nightmare Rarity stiffened for a moment, and then plastered a polite smile onto her face as she said, "Excuse me for just a moment." She then calmly left the room and headed downstairs. Soon, Nano heard Trixie's voice greeting Nightmare Rarity, only to interrupt herself with a shrill scream.

"My mane! Oh, Trixie's great and powerful mane is ruined!"

A few moments after that, Nightmare Rarity returned just as calmly as she'd left, while Nano gave a confused look. "Now, where were we?" said Nightmare Rarity.

_What will be Nightmare Rarity's next lesson?_

_Will Nano be able to meet the dark mare's expectations?_

_Will Alistar ever find his way back into the house?_

_Will Iron Will ever make those muffins for his mother?_

_Will Trixie's mane ever be the same?!_

_Find out the answers to these questions and more in __**Episode 2: A Night to Remember, Part 2!**_

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and each of its characters belongs to Hasbro Studios and Lauren Faust.**

**Nano and Alistar belong to DayDreamer95 and MasterOfYourFate.**


	2. A Night to Remember, Part 2

_**Episode 2: A Night to Remember, Part 2**_

Written by MasterOfYourFate in collaboration with DayDreamer95

The next lesson for Nano was how to be polite for his date, namely by opening doors for the mare. Though it seemed trivial, Nightmare Rarity insisted that manners were of the utmost importance, especially at an event such as the Canterlot Ball.

"Now, if you are going to be a gentlecolt," Nightmare Rarity was saying to him, "you must open the door for the mare you are with. Like so." She demonstrated by opening the door to her room with her magic, making an elegant gesture with her hoof before she closed the door again and looked at Nano. "Now, you give it a try."

Nano nodded and walked to the door, grasping the doorknob with his hoof. As Nightmare Rarity walked towards the door, giving him the cue to open the door, the robot proceeded to turn the doorknob and pull the door open. But unfortunately, his grip was too strong, and he accidentally tore the door from its hinges. "Oh!" Nano yelped. "Um . . . Oops!"

Iron Will then called from downstairs, "Whatever that was, Iron Will did not cause it!"

Nightmare Rarity planted one of her front hooves against her forehead as she said, "I'll fix it later . . ."

Nano lowered his gaze as he placed the door against the nearby wall. "I'm so sorry . . . I've disappointed you, just as I feared I would. Perhaps it would be best if you find somepony else to take to the ball . . ."

"No," Nightmare Rarity said firmly. "You have the capability. You just need a little more training from yours truly."

"What kind of training?"

"Well, from what I've seen, the problem is that you're too rough. I'll train you to be gentler."

And thus, Nightmare Rarity attempted to teach the robot to be gentler. She tried several tests and methods. First, she had him hold a cute, fluffy bunny in his hooves—the poor creature had every breath of oxygen squeezed from it by his grasp, forcing Nightmare Rarity to pry it away from him so that the bunny could breathe. Next, she tried teaching him to sew a vest—somehow, he ended up with an unruly pile of fabric. And then she tried having him trim a bonsai tree—he carelessly chopped the entire thing.

By this point, Nightmare Rarity was beginning to think that it would be impossible to teach Nano anything. He _was_ a robot, after all; he had set programming that she would likely never be able to change. Regardless, she decided to give him one last test. If he failed this, then she would finally give up, and she would either find someone else to go to the ball with her or simply go alone.

She said to him, "This is the last and final test I'll be giving you." She then held out her right front hoof, presenting it to the robot stallion. "You must hold my hoof. _Gently_."

Nightmare Rarity tensed as she felt his hoof grasping hers, expecting his ruthless grip to practically crush her hoof. But to her surprise, he was actually holding her hoof very gently. Then he raised her hoof slightly and gently touched his muzzle to it. Nightmare Rarity felt a small electrical spark that felt more pleasurable than painful, and she supposed that that was the robot stallion's version of a kiss. It caught her off-guard, and she was left speechless for several moments as she blushed a little.

Nano then released her hoof and looked up at her. "Did I do well?"

"You . . . You most certainly did," Nightmare Rarity said, still mildly dazed by the surprising display of affection from the robot.

"I am glad . . ." Nano paused for a few moments, a slight red tint appearing on his face. "So I promise, I will do everything I can to make you happy. I shall treat you like a queen . . ." He then gazed into Nightmare Rarity's eyes, the red tint on his face growing more apparent. "All of this has . . . has made me realize how . . . special you are to me . . ."

Nightmare Rarity blinked, a rosy hue coloring her cheeks once more. "R . . . Really?"

"Yes. And I . . . I'm actually glad now that you've chosen me to be your date. Also, the fact that you didn't give up on 'training' me when it seemed hopeless tells me that . . . that you actually care about me . . ."

Nightmare Rarity quickly turned her head away, again caught by surprise at Nano's earnestness. "N-No!" she hastily exclaimed. "I just really needed somepony to go to the ball with, and you were the only choice left . . ."

Nano suddenly seemed hurt. "So . . . I mean nothing to you? I'm nothing more than a . . . tool?" Nightmare Rarity remained silent; to him, that silence spoke more than any words ever could. He understood that he truly was nothing but something to be used to entertain her whims. "I see. So I'm not special. You'll just throw me away like garbage after the ball. In that case . . ." He began walking towards the door as he continued, "Go find another fool to take you to the ball, because I now refuse to take you. I may be a robot . . ."

He stopped, looking over his shoulder at Nightmare Rarity. Unshed tears shimmered in his eyes as he finished the sentence, his mechanical voice laden with pain, "But that does not mean that I don't have feelings." With that, he left her room and slammed the door behind him. The dark mare stared at the door, her ears drooping as she realized what she had done.

On the way to his room, Nano happened to pass by Octavia. At once, she noticed that something was amiss. "Nano? Are you alright?" she asked, seeming a little concerned.

"I wish to be alone," Nano replied coldly.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I _said_ that I wish to be alone." And without another word, Nano walked past Octavia and into his room, forcefully shutting the door. Octavia held her ear near the door, listening to what was happening inside. She cringed slightly as she heard what she believed to be the sound of some items being tossed around angrily, followed by the sound of Nano crying—though the latter might have been her imagination, since it was so faint. But no, she decided, something had definitely upset Nano, and it more than likely had to do with Nightmare Rarity.

Octavia marched to Nightmare Rarity's room, knocking on the door. The door opened quietly by Nightmare Rarity's magic, and Octavia walked in to find the dark mare sitting on her bed, gazing out the window.

"What did you do this time?" Octavia asked, narrowing her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Nightmare Rarity replied softly.

"Nano has locked himself in his room, and he's clearly upset. What did you do?"

"I did nothing. He's the one that let himself think I was only using him as a tool."

"_Were_ you only using him as a tool?"

Nightmare Rarity paused for several moments, considering her answer. "Perhaps I was."

Octavia huffed softly. "Well, great job. You broke a robot's heart. Do you feel like you accomplished something?"

After another long pause, Nightmare Rarity murmured, "Not really."

"So, what are you going to do now, since you don't have a date anymore?"

Nightmare Rarity smirked slightly. "I don't need a date. I can go alone. I'll easily find a dance partner there at the ball."

Octavia glared at the other mare for a long while before she finally said with a scowl, "I hope you're happy." She then turned and left the room, leaving Nightmare Rarity alone once more.

All the while, Nightmare Rarity never moved her gaze from the glorious moon outside her window.

At the same time, Nano was staring out his window, solemnly contemplating the painful words Nightmare Rarity had said to him. From the moment of his creation, he had been nothing but an object built with a specific goal in mind. All his life, he was destined to be used to fulfill someone else's purpose, never allowed to have hopes or dreams of his own. He had been given a mind and a heart capable of truly thinking and feeling, only so he could suffer for the dreams he had that would never come true. He had dared to let himself feel admiration, adoration, maybe even love, for another pony, and he had his heart broken for the first time ever.

He had managed to stop his tears for a while, but they started anew as he thought of what could have been. Nightmare Rarity, a mare that was alluring and terrifying all at once. She was so beautiful, so elegant . . . and so heartless. He could never win over her black heart, and yet he had fantasized what would have happened if he had indeed won her over.

The heartbroken robot walked away from the window and climbed onto his bed, laying his head on the pillow before he quietly cried himself to sleep.

o~*~o

After several long days of waiting, the night of the Canterlot Ball finally came. Nightmare Rarity stepped out of her room wearing a gorgeous silver dress and a red rose in her mane, and slowly descended the stairs, making sure that all eyes were on her. "How do I look?" she asked, smiling coyly.

"Ostentatious," said Octavia. "Over the top. Any synonym you wish to put there."

"Absolutely tacky," Trixie said snobbishly, agreeing with Octavia (for once).

Nightmare Rarity waved the mares' comments away with her hoof. "Oh, you two are just jealous that you didn't get invited to the ball." She then turned to Alistar and Iron Will. "So what about you, boys? What do you think?"

Alistar was nearly speechless, which was a rare thing for him. "Y-You look . . . amazing!" he managed to finally stammer.

Iron Will nodded. "If Iron Will were a pony, he would have taken you to the ball himself! Speaking of, where is your partner?"

Nightmare Rarity tensed for an instant before she scoffed. "Oh, Nano? He's not coming, after all. There was a little . . . change of plans. I'll be going alone."

Octavia began trembling with suppressed anger as Nightmare Rarity opened the front door with her magic and nonchalantly walked out, delicately closing the door behind her.

"I can't believe that mare!" Octavia seethed, glaring at the door. "You know that Nano's still in his room? He hasn't come out in days!"

"I know," Alistar said as he reclined on the couch. "And I know what Nightmare Rarity meant by 'change of plans.' It's not going to work, though. With the way she is, no stallion will even approach her, let alone dance with her."

"You got that right," Iron Will said gruffly as he sat down on the couch with Alistar. "I pity the fools who would try to get her number!"

"Of course, I've seen this kind of story a thousand times," Alistar sighed. "Nightmare Rarity is probably going to have a horrible time at the ball, but then Nano will come out of his room, go to the ball and save the night, metaphorically sweeping her off her hooves and ultimately winning her heart."

"That seems unlikely," the minotaur grumbled.

"Want to bet?" Iron Will hesitated, at which Alistar smirked. "What's the matter, minotaur? Scared? Come on, I'll bet you that Nano will come out of his room and go to that ball before midnight."

"Iron Will is not afraid to make bets!" Iron Will declared. "In fact, Iron Will is not afraid of anything!"

Just then, a somewhat unhappy Octavia called from the kitchen, "Hey! Who ate the last slice of pizza?"

Iron Will was suddenly stricken with a nervous expression as he quickly pointed to Alistar. "He did it!"

"I did _not_!"

o~*~o

At the ball, Nightmare Rarity was actually having a good time. She admired the beautiful, carefully arranged decorations placed around the ballroom; she enjoyed the tasteful music that the orchestra there played. But suddenly, a sour chord marred the harmony of the night the moment she attempted to socialize. She found that none of the stallions wanted to even speak with her, let alone dance. They showed no interest in holding a conversation, and a few of the more skittish ones were quick to turn away when she met their gaze. With a sigh, she finally admitted to herself that her friends were right—she was not going to find a date anytime soon. She was simply too intimidating and unapproachable to appeal to any of the stallions regardless of her beauty.

Nightmare Rarity headed outside for some fresh air, finding that the ballroom felt too crowded now. She sat down on the steps, staring up at the sky. The moon was her only companion here. Always there, always faithful, appearing night after night. But it couldn't give her what she truly needed: warmth, contact, affection . . . perhaps even love. Those things, what would make her truly happy, were forever out of her reach.

As she contemplated her loneliness, the dark mare felt a sudden wave of emotions, feelings that she had repressed, crashing over her heart. Her composure shattered under the onslaught, and she began to cry, sobbing softly into her hooves. It was then that she felt a hoof on her shoulder, and heard a familiar voice that, in spite of all that had happened, brought a ray of bright happiness into her dark and gloomy heart.

"May I have this dance?"

Nightmare Rarity slowly raised her teary gaze to see Nano standing before her. "N-Nano?" she stuttered slightly, caught by surprise.

The robot stallion replied with a hint of playful sarcasm, "Whom did you expect? C-3PO?" He then gently took her hoof into his own. "Now then, about that dance . . ."

He carefully pulled her up onto her hooves. She smiled faintly as she raised herself onto her hind legs, placing her free hoof on his shoulder. He did the same, moving his other hoof to her waist. The two didn't need an orchestra or an elegant ballroom to dance. All they needed was each other. They began to dance in the garden beneath the gentle light of the full moon.

"Why did you come?" Nightmare Rarity asked quietly after a few moments. "After what I said to you . . . After how cruel I was to you . . ."

"Well, because being like that is . . . part of who you are. You cannot help it. You are an evil, manipulative tyrant who wants to take over the world. And that is what makes you so . . . charming and appealing . . ."

"Y-You mean that?" Nightmare Rarity asked, somewhat in disbelief.

"I do. I would not change a single thing about you. And there's something else . . ." Nano paused briefly. "You may be evil, but that is not all there is to you. Being evil does not determine the whole of your personality. Think about it. Would somepony truly evil even bother with these social events? No. They would likely be plotting their next scheme to take over the world."

Nightmare Rarity let his words settle in her mind for a little while. "I never thought about it that way . . ."

"Also, this thought just crossed my mind. Since you do concern yourself with these kinds of events, it must mean that taking over Equestria is not the only thing on your mind. You have other goals. You have hopes and desires beyond that . . ." Nano gently pulled Nightmare Rarity closer, resting his head on her chest. He listened to the mare's steady heartbeat for some time before he continued with a hopeful question. "Might one of those desires be to . . . to share companionship and maybe even feelings for a certain robot?"

Nightmare Rarity looked away, blushing slightly. "P-Possibly."

"That's all I needed to know." Nano closed his eyes, and the mare smiled, nuzzling the top of his head.

_And this was all I needed_, Nightmare Rarity thought. _A quiet dance in the moonlight with a special stallion . . . _She looked down at Nano, her smile growing. _A very special stallion indeed . . . _

o~*~o

At the end of the night, Nightmare Rarity and Nano returned home together. Upon reaching the doorstep, Nightmare Rarity turned to face the robot stallion. She wanted to thank him for making this night one of the most wonderful nights ever, and so she leaned forward and kissed him on the muzzle.

The kiss essentially caused Nano to short-circuit himself as he was overwhelmed by the simple but meaningful gesture. Electricity crackled around him before he literally fell to pieces there on the doorstep.

Nightmare Rarity giggled, smiling at him. "I'll tell the others that you'll be a little late," she said playfully as she opened the front door and walked in.

Nano's eyes turned into hearts as he watched her and sighed, "What a mare . . ."

The dark mare headed upstairs, ignoring Alistar and Iron Will as they were quarreling yet again; this time, Alistar was attempting to coerce payment out of the minotaur since Iron Will had lost the bet, while Iron Will claimed that he never really made the bet in the first place. Upon reaching her room, making sure that the door was closed behind her, she pulled out her diary from her secret hiding place as well as a quill pen and some ink, and began to write.

_Dear Diary,_

_Tonight was one of the most amazing nights ever. When it seemed like everything was going to turn into a disaster for me, like I would forever be lonely . . . Nano came and saved the night. I honestly hadn't expected that, especially after the way I'd treated him. He was so forgiving and kind . . . Most of the time, I feel that stallions don't deserve me, but this time I actually thought, if only for a moment, that I did not deserve Nano, or the kindness he showed me._

_Now I see. I see that this robot has a heart. And if I had to take a guess, I would say that it was made of gold. He clearly cares about me. I don't know how long he has, though. Maybe since the beginning. And, well, I think that I may be starting to feel the same way for him . . ._

She closed the diary and held it close to her chest, sighing softly. Lost in a daze, she didn't even notice that Alistar had made a rather large inverted dent in her floor after Iron Will nearly sent him through the ceiling downstairs.

Alistar groaned, "I really should stop trying to compete with a minotaur . . ."

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and each of its characters belong to Hasbro and Lauren Faust.**

**Nano and Alistar belong to DayDreamer95 and MasterOfYourFate.**


	3. Mother's Day - Not! Part 1

_**Chapter 3: Mother's Day . . . Not! Part 1**_

Written by MasterOfYourFate in collaboration with DayDreamer95

_At long last, the Great and Powerful Trixie was famous, the greatest and most powerful magician in the land. She basked in the glow of the limelight, reveled in the cheers of her countless adoring fans. Her vast audience ooh'd and ahh'd at her incredible magical feats, tricks that not even Twilight Sparkle could perform in her wildest dreams._

_That is, until a terribly familiar voice rose above the cheers of the crowd._

_"Trixie Lulamoon!"_

_Trixie stopped in her tracks, frozen with dread. As she turned to look, the crowd parted around the one who called her out: an older unicorn mare that bore a striking resemblance to the young magician._

_"M-Mom?!" Trixie exclaimed, recoiling in terror._

_"What do you think you're doing this time?" Trixie's mother, Serenity, demanded as she walked towards the stage upon which Trixie stood. "I thought I told you to stop with these foalish shows of yours."_

_"They're not foalish!" Trixie protested with a frown. "Can't you see all these ponies that have come to see the Great and Powerful Trixie?"_

_Serenity quickly glanced at the crowd around her before returning her attention to her daughter. "Well, what they are seeing is a ruse. Perhaps I should show them the 'Great and Powerful Trixie' as she truly is . . ." With her magic, the mare summoned a book bound in dyed purple leather._

_Trixie recognized it at once, and her eyes tripled in size at the sight of it. "No! Anything but that!"_

_Serenity gave a deceptively sweet smile as she opened the book. The book was a photo album . . . filled with baby pictures of none other than Trixie herself. The older mare plucked the photos from their pages and began giving them out to the crowd, cooing about how precious her little 'Twixie' once was._

_Laughter soon spread across the crowd as the ponies saw the pictures, both cute and amusing to them - and utterly humiliating to Trixie. The laughter grew louder and louder until it seemed to envelop her whole world, and she tried to drown it all out with her own long, high-pitched shriek._

o~*~o

It was then that she woke up.

"It was . . . just a nightmare," Trixie sighed, placing a hoof over her chest as she tried to calm her frantic heart.

After taking a few moments to calm down, she looked out the window to see a cheerful sun and a wonderfully clear blue sky greeting her. Birds flitted by, singing their happy melody, and young foals were playing carefree in the neighboring yards. The blue mare smiled gently, the overall image of peace outside her window quickly sweeping away the memory of the nightmare as she prepared herself for a new day.

Then her cell phone started to ring, vibrating on the nightstand near her bed. She picked it up at once, not bothering to check who was calling as she answered, placing the phone to her ear. Upon hearing the voice on the other end, her smile immediately vanished as her eyes widened. It only got worse as she heard what the caller had to say, her expression gradually growing more and more horrified. Finally, she could take no more, and let out a prolonged shriek that would deafen even a banshee as she quickly tossed the phone away like it had electrocuted her.

Moments afterward, the door was kicked in as Iron Will invited himself into Trixie's bedroom, followed by the other residents of the household. Most of them seemed annoyed; only Nano appeared concerned for Trixie.

"Are you alright, Trixie?" the robot stallion asked.

Alistar spoke before Trixie could answer, yawning as he drowsily said, "What is it this time? Has another spider found its way into your room?"

"Yes, what is it?" Nightmare Rarity echoed, more irritated than the rest. "For what reason did you have to interrupt my beauty sleep?" One of her hooves was pulling at the tangles in her messy ethereal mane as she spoke, while her tired eyes glared at Trixie.

"That's the second time this month that you've acted as our alarm clock," Octavia noted, noticeably calmer than the incensed mare next to her, but still somewhat annoyed.

Trixie was mildly overwhelmed, and a little abashed at the fact that all the residents of the house had come to confront her about this rude awakening—just like the last time she woke them all with her scream, when a spider actually had crawled into her room (and into her mane). "I, um, i-it was nothing," she hastily replied as she nervously tried to smooth down her frazzled mane, unable to make eye contact with the ponies or the minotaur in the room.

"Are you certain?" Nano asked. "I was able to hear you while I was down in the basement."

"And Iron Will heard you from outside when Iron Will was mowing the lawn," Iron Will added, crossing his arms.

It was useless to lie, and Trixie knew it. She drew in a deep breath and released it in a long sigh. "Alright . . . I'll tell you." She paused, bracing herself against the horror of what she was about to tell. "My . . . M-My . . . mother . . . is coming over for a visit."

All fell silent for a moment, and then there was laughter from everyone but Trixie. For an instant, Trixie felt a pang of humiliation, particularly as she recalled the nightmare she woke from a few minutes ago.

"That's all?" Octavia asked incredulously. "What's so bad about that?"

"You don't understand!" Trixie squealed. "My mother is one of the strictest, meanest mares ever! You would _not _want to meet her, and I don't look forward to seeing her myself!"

"Oh, come on, she can't be as bad as my dad," Alistar said, still struggling to compose himself after the fit of laughter. "Trust me, the reason I always wake up at 3:45 in the morning is because my dad used to be in the Equestrian Military Service, and he would always play General Patton with both me and my brothers when we were colts."

"I suppose that explains why you have a phobia of whistles," Nano observed.

Upon hearing this bit of information, Iron Will smirked and took out a whistle he had on him for reasons unknown. He then blew the whistle; the shrill sound got an immediate reaction. Alistar yelped with fright and hid beneath Trixie's bed, at which the minotaur laughed.

Alistar poked his head out from under the bed, glaring at Iron Will. "Do that one more time, and I'll shove that whistle down your throat!"

"Anyway," Nightmare Rarity said, waving off the others' antics with her hoof, "I'm certain that your mother cannot be as bad as you say. We'll do everything we can to make sure her visit is pleasant, for both her and everyone here."

"No-no-no-no!" Trixie jolted out of her bed and onto her hooves, beginning to pace anxiously. "She'll strangle me if she finds out I'm still a magician! She's always hated that I had more magical talent than she ever did! That's it right there!"

"Hold on, she doesn't like that you . . . have more magical talent than her? What's up with that?" Alistar asked, crawling out from under the bed before standing up and looking at Trixie.

Trixie let out a soft huff. "Just because she's my mother and she's older than me, she thinks that she must be superior in every aspect, including magic! She just can't accept that I'm better than her when it comes to magic! But, hey, my special talent is magic, and hers _isn't_!"

"Well, I'll be darned. It _is_ just like they say: 'Like mother, like daughter.'"

"Shut up!" she snapped at him before resuming her pacing. "Oh, I can't have her here, I just can't!"

"Calm down, Trix," said Octavia. "Stressing yourself out over it isn't going to help anything."

"Wait, hold the episode with a side of hay fries," Alistar interjected. "Does your mother even know that you live in this house?"

"That is a valid point," Nano agreed. "Before you moved in here, you used to live in your stagecoach, and would constantly travel from one place to another."

Trixie nervously tapped her front hooves together as she lowered her gaze. "Well, she . . . She saw that status I put up on . . . Hoofbook . . ."

Everypony plus the minotaur facehoofed and facepalmed respectively.

"You've got to be kidding me," Alistar grunted as he removed his hoof from his face.

"Oh, darling . . ." Nightmare Rarity sighed. "If you don't want anypony finding out things like that, then you shouldn't be putting them on Hoofbook!"

"Like you're one to talk," Alistar grumbled, glancing at Nightmare Rarity. "Ms. Five Hundred Friends on Hoofbook . . ."

"I can't help it!" Trixie whined. "The Great and Powerful Trixie simply must keep in touch with her fans—I mean, friends."

Again, Alistar had his input. "Sure, as if you actually have any."

"And this is why I avoid social networks," Octavia remarked, rolling her eyes.

Thankfully, Iron Will changed the subject from that of social networks, turning his attention back to Trixie. "So, when exactly is your mother coming?"

"And how are you going to succeed in, ahem, 'not having her here'?" Alistar asked, adding air quotes with his front hooves.

"She's coming tomorrow," Trixie said, continuing to pace. "And I don't know how I'm going to get her to not come here, but the Great and Resourceful Trixie shall find a way!"

"What are you going to do? Hijack the train she'll be on or something?" Alistar asked jokingly.

Trixie brightened for a moment, as if actually considering that course of action, only for the elation of hope to be quickly smothered by Octavia's voice of reason.

"Don't even think about it. That would be crazy and you know it."

"Also, you would likely go to jail," Nano added with a somewhat stern tone.

"Something that Nightmare Rarity's very familiar with," Alistar remarked with a raised eyebrow, which earned him a kick in the face from the dark mare in question.

He was sent flying towards Trixie's wardrobe, and the blue unicorn shrieked, "Not Trixie's Great and Powerful Wardrobe!" She quickly caught Alistar in an aura of lavender magic to prevent collision with her wardrobe, and then dropped him on the floor. Alistar groaned and rubbed his face as he slowly stood, grumbling to himself.

Nano placed one of his hooves on the incensed mare's shoulder. "My lady, please. Remember that you must control your temper."

Nightmare Rarity looked at him and sighed, calming herself. "I know," she said softly. "It's hard sometimes, though . . ."

"Anyway," said Octavia, "just what are you going to do about your mother, Trixie? Try and convince her not to come?"

Trixie's face once again lit up. "That's it! I'll convince her not to come!" She glanced around at the ponies and minotaur in her room, narrowing her eyes slightly. "It shouldn't be that hard to do . . ."

"And what is that supposed to mean?!" Iron Will bellowed, throwing a glare at Trixie. "Are you suggesting that Iron Will is bad company?"

"Yeah, when you don't bathe," Alistar noted, ducking under the fist swung at him a moment after. "Ha! You missed!" The unicorn stuck his tongue out at Iron Will teasingly.

Then Iron Will roundhouse kicked him, easily catching him off guard. The incredible strength behind the kick was enough to send Alistar flying, crashing through the window. Needless to say, the commotion was not left unnoticed by the neighbors.

"I'm telling you, dear, the ponies living in that house need counseling," an elderly stallion said to his wife as they strolled along the sidewalk, having happened to walk by when Alistar landed face-first in the front yard.

"The very notion insults me!" Nightmare Rarity cried indignantly, angered by the remark Trixie had made.

"But it's true," Octavia said frankly with a deadpan expression. "I mean, just look at us."

"Exactly!" Trixie exclaimed, hopping up onto her hind legs as she pointed a front hoof at the gray mare. "Once I tell Mother about you guys, and all the crazy things we get up to, there's no way she'll want to come here!"

"So," said Nano, "you are going to tell your mother that you are living with misbehaving, maniacal, obnoxious, annoying, rambunctious dimwits with bad hygiene?" Coming from the robot, his statement was mere observation not meant to imply anything about anyone—but coming from anyone else, it would have immediately been taken as an insult by each pony and minotaur in the room.

Trixie paused for a moment before she gave a nonchalant shrug, responding to Nano, "Pretty much."

"And you're going to do that by sending her a message on this here . . . Hoofbook?" Iron Will asked, pointing to the computer.

"That is exactly what I'm going to do," Trixie said with a nod as she sat before the computer, placing her hooves on the keyboard.

Nano looked over at Octavia while Trixie started to type. "Do you think it will work?"

Octavia watched Trixie for a few moments before she turned to Nano with another deadpan look. "Not at all."

Nano responded with a deadpan expression of his own.

"The odds were 349,868,321 to 1 before I even asked the question . . ."

After a short while of typing and chatting with her mother on Hoofbook, Trixie threw her hooves up in exasperation. "Gah! It's no use!" She then buried her face in her hooves, groaning, "Now, she just wants to come _even more_ . . . So she can meet you guys . . ."

Nano walked over to the computer and looked at the response with confusion. "Why would she want to meet a bunch of ponies that you described as being the scum of society?" he asked.

"When I started talking about the crazy things we get up to here . . . She said it sounded . . . _fun_." Trixie said this through gritted teeth, her jaw clenched tightly.

"Fun? Why would she consider this fun? Given the fact that you said that she's strict and all?" Nano inquired.

"Ugh, I don't know!" Trixie scoffed. "I think she's just saying that because she really wants to come over here and humiliate me in some terrible, Tartarus-worthy way."

"Now, why would that be the case?" Octavia now asked.

Trixie turned away, remaining silent as she once again recalled her nightmare. After a short while, she sighed and said, "I just know it, okay? I must keep her from coming here, I just have to!"

"Well, we have all day," Octavia pointed out.

"All day . . . That's right. And I will find a way," Trixie declared, "even if it takes all day _and _all night!"

Everyone else in the room groaned, either inwardly or out loud. This was going to be a long, _long_ day . . .

_To be continued . . ._

* * *

**_Don't forget to review on your way out! :'D_**

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and each of its characters belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust.**

**Nano and Alistar belong to DayDreamer95 and MasterOfYourFate.**


	4. Mother's Day - Not! Part 2

_**Chapter 4: Mother's Day . . . Not! Part 2**_

Written by MasterOfYourFate in collaboration with DayDreamer95

On a train heading into Manehattan, an older blue unicorn mare looks out the window, her violet eyes distant as she watched the landscape roll by. She was pulled from her daze as the train conductor approached her, asking to see her ticket. The mare offered a faint smile as she took out her ticket, which glowed with a pale blue aura in her magical grasp. The conductor nodded approvingly as he then plucked the ticket from the magic holding it, tucking it safely away in his coat pocket.

After the conductor left, the mare smoothed down her light blue mane and returned her gaze to the landscape outside the window. It was not long before she settled deep into her thoughts once more, wondering about her dear daughter Trixie.

o~*~o

Trixie paced before her housemates, who were lined up like dutiful soldiers. "Alright, everypony! The Great and Powerful Trixie has an excellent plan in mind, and each of you have a role to play!" She stopped in front of Alistar, pointing her hoof at him. "Alistar! You will be our primary defense against you-know-who. Your task is to do everything in your power to keep her from arriving here." Before Alistar could respond, the mare quickly added, "But please, do keep it legal. And try not to harm her. She is still my mother, after all."

"Rats," Alistar muttered under his breath.

"Should Alistar fail," Trixie continued on, "you, Iron Will, shall do whatever you can to stall for time."

"Iron Will will think of something to stall for time!"

Alistar snickered. "'Iron Will' and 'think' in the same sentence? That's a good one."

Trixie then turned to Nightmare Rarity and Nano. "In the case that Mother does make it here, Trixie trusts you two to clean up the house. Make it sparkle!"

"Me? Cleaning? But, I wouldn't want to get my hooves dirty," Nightmare Rarity complained, a faint glimmer of her former personality showing as she recoiled at the thought of dirt.

"Well, just do it!" Trixie snapped. "The Great and Powerful Trixie demands it!"

Nightmare Rarity huffed softly, turning away. Nano then looked at her and placed his hoof on her shoulder. "Worry not," he said, "I will take care of the hard work."

At that, the dark mare smiled and lightly kissed him on the cheek as a sign of gratitude. The moment she did, Nano's face turned a bright red before he suffered a small short that resulted in him flat on his back, temporarily offline.

"Hey, be careful!" Alistar said with a slight chuckle. "You don't want to break him, do ya?"

"But in all seriousness," Octavia interrupted, "don't you think that you could do a little work around the house, Nightmare Rarity?"

"Well, I suppose I could," Nightmare Rarity conceded, gingerly pawing at the floor with one of her front hooves.

"That reminds me!" Trixie said, turning towards Octavia. "I have one more task, and this one is just for you, Octavia! It may be the most important one of all." Octavia raised an eyebrow at her. "You shall go to the grocery store! And buy some milk."

Octavia facehoofed herself, not even bothering to hide how she felt about this so-called important task she'd just been assigned.

"At least you get to do the easy part," Alistar grumbled. "I'm going to have to work my tail off to try and keep Trixie's mother from coming here."

Trixie silenced them all with a wave of her hoof. "Now, we haven't much time. Mother will be arriving by noon! So, the Great and Powerful Trixie commands you to go, now!" She punctuated her order with a flourish, materializing a miniature fireworks show with her magic.

"How many times have we told you to not do that, with the fireworks and all?" Octavia said. "You know what happened the last time you did."

"Our neighbors thought we were celebrating the 4th of July early," Alistar added.

"Not to mention that that was the second time we've had to call the fire department since we moved here."

"Third time's the charm?" Trixie offered sheepishly, only to receive a stern look from Octavia.

"Well, at least nothing caught on fire this time," Nano reasoned.

Trixie smiled, grateful that at least one of her housemates was on her side for once. Then she noticed the time, gasped and flailed her hooves. "There's no more time to waste! All of you must go, right now! Mother will be coming here in an hour from now!"

Without any further argument or discussion, they all went about performing their respective tasks.

o~*~o

Trixie's mother, Serenity, was leaving the train station, and now had to hail a cab to take her the rest of the way to her destination. She climbed into the first one that pulled over for her. The driver, a gray unicorn male with a blue mane partially hidden beneath the cap that cab drivers typically wear, took a long glance at her before facing forward once more.

"_Bonjour, mademoiselle_," he said, his voice thick with a heavy French accent that would likely sound a bit off to true speakers of the language.

"Um, hello," Serenity replied with somewhat of a forced smile.

"And where may I take you on zis fine day, _mademoiselle_?" the driver asked, discreetly adjusting his moustache.

"243 Cherrywood Drive, please."

A strange glint appeared in his bright eyes. "At once, _mademoiselle_."

And so, the two started on the presumably brief trip to the house in which Trixie lived with her friends. Little did Serenity know that the driver wasn't exactly who he seemed to be . . .

o~*~o

Nightmare Rarity looked around her, perusing all that had to be cleaned while Nano was busy with actual cleaning. Again, she found herself reluctant to touch anything remotely unclean for fear of marring her perfectly dark coat with dirt or dust. But at the same time, she admitted to herself that she did too little around the house, which made her less of a good housemate and more of a freeloader. With a sigh, she lifted a feather duster with her magic and gingerly tried to dust a nearby piece of wooden furniture. However, she could see the feathers sweeping the dust off of the furniture and into the air. She yelped and dropped the feather duster, at once moving away from the dust.

The mare sighed once more. How was she ever going to clean anything if she feared even the smallest speck of dust?

"How are you doing over there?" Nano asked, glancing over his shoulder from his cleaning.

"Just fine, dear!" Nightmare Rarity responded, forcing a smile onto her face.

Nano nodded, appearing to smile before he returned his attention to his work.

Nightmare Rarity surveyed her immediate surroundings once more, as if one of the common household items around her would provide a solution to her dilemma. She picked up the feather duster once more, frowning at it, only to drop it again as she made a realization. She could not do the work herself . . . but what if she could make this feather duster do the work for her? She could even have other cleaning supplies working for her, if the spell she had in mind worked correctly!

She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, ready to cast the spell. Magic swirled around her horn, gathering and concentrating itself as she focused. She then released her magic upon the feather duster lying on the ground. Afterwards, she watched as the feather duster sprouted arms and legs, and stood up. It darted off to set about its work, and Nightmare Rarity giggled to herself in delight. She then began zapping other cleaning items—a mop, a broom, among other things—turning them into her own little beasts of cleanliness.

"Go, my little cleaning minions!" she cooed, absolutely thrilled by her own success.

Everything seemed to go smoothly at first. The cleaning objects brought to life did their job as they were meant to, while Nightmare Rarity watched over them. Everything was fine, until Nano took notice of them. When he noticed the little creatures scurrying about, the robot pony let out a shrill, metallic scream that had Nightmare Rarity cringing. With her concentration broken, the spell should have broken as well, leaving the cleaning objects lifeless as they should have been. But these little creatures had literally taken on a life of their own, and now began rampaging through the house without Nightmare Rarity's influence, destroying things rather than cleaning them.

Nightmare Rarity tried to regain control of the cleaning creatures, but they rejected her magic. As a result, it bounced harmlessly off of them. "But how?!" she said in disbelief—and yet she already knew the answer. These creatures had a small part of her in them. They could willingly deflect her magic by using that fraction of power granted to them when she bestowed them life. They could even defend against any other magic she tried to use in order to capture them, which infuriated the mare to no end.

Nano saw that he had no other choice. He had to activate his Battle Mode, which he used only when absolutely necessary. His gentle blue eyes shifted into a threatening shade of red; spikes and blades sprouted from his joints; twin laser cannons emerged from his shoulders, and one larger one from his back. He then began firing at the creatures. The powerful blasts killed them immediately, incinerating them. Unfortunately, it also created more of a mess than that the creatures were making of the house as those same laser blasts blew holes in the walls, singed the carpets and everything else, and otherwise turned the house into what looked like a war zone.

"Well," said Nightmare Rarity, "at least those creatures are taken care of . . ." She was practically twitching, pent up with both anger and anxiety. She and Nano had been trusted with the relatively simple task of cleaning the house, and instead they virtually destroyed it together. The others were not going to take this too well, Trixie in particular.

"I sincerely apologize," Nano said softly, lowering his gaze as he reverted back to his normal self. "I did not mean to destroy the house . . ."

"It's not your fault. It was mine, really. To think that magic could help me, when I should be doing the work myself . . . It was foolish of me."

It was then that Octavia returned from the grocery store. The moment she took in the sight of the ruined house before her, she dropped the bag she had been holding in her mouth, her eyes widening. "What in Equestria have you done?" she demanded after recovering from the initial shock.

"We, um . . . had to deal with a little, er, roach infestation," Nightmare Rarity said, putting on a sheepish smile.

"And you decided to do that by torching the entire place? That's brilliant," the gray mare remarked sarcastically.

"Well, in her defense, those roaches were rather large," Nano said, looking about as sheepish as the dark mare next to him.

"Ugh, whatever," Octavia said, choosing to dismiss the matter rather than stressing herself further over it. She picked up the grocery bag she had dropped, and walked towards the kitchen, muttering to herself through the bag handles, "Why do I live with such crazy ponies . . . ?"

Trixie then finally came to see what the commotion had been about, and shrieked when she saw the destruction that had resulted from Nightmare Rarity and Nano's attempt to clean the house, rearing up onto her hind legs while her forelegs flailed in the air. "What the hay happened here?" she squeaked before turning to the ones responsible. "Trixie told you to clean the house, not wage battle in it!"

Nightmare Rarity let out a little sheepish chuckle as she nervously tapped her front hooves together. "About that . . ."

"Trixie thinks she would rather not hear whatever story you have to tell," the blue mare interrupted. She then looked out the window and let out another shriek as she saw a cab stopping before the house, looking ready to pull her mane out. "Mother is here! Whatever happened to Alistar?"

"It would seem that he did not succeed in his given task," Nano noted.

And the robot was absolutely right, for Alistar was currently lying on the side of the road, bruised and beaten. Serenity had seen through his French cab driver façade, and promptly punished him. "For an old mare, she sure knows how to pack a punch . . ." Alistar groaned to himself.

Back in the house, Trixie was close to a full-out panic attack. "What do we do, what do we _do_?"

"There's still Iron Will, right?" Nightmare Rarity pointed out.

"That's right!" Trixie cried, feeling somewhat relieved that there was still a glimmer of hope left. She then pressed her muzzle against the window, watching closely as Serenity walked along the path towards the house.

Iron Will suddenly leaped out from a nearby bush, dressed in full-body armor that seemed more suited for a sci-fi game and armed with a strangely futuristic assault rifle. "You want a piece of Iron Will, pony?!" he bellowed, startling the older mare.

But before he could even aim his rifle at her, a horseshoe hit him in the head, sending him toppling over onto his side as if he'd been struck with a bowling ball. "Don't you remember the rules, Iron Will?" Octavia yelled out the window. "No heavy weaponry allowed in or near the house!"

With that, Serenity made it to the front door unimpeded, and knocked to formally announce her arrival. Left with no other choice, Trixie trudged to the door and opened it only partway, painfully placing a smile onto her face as she peeked out at Serenity. "H-Hello, Mother."

"Ah, Trixie! It's good to see you again," Serenity said, returning Trixie's fake smile with a genuine one.

"I could . . . say the same." Trixie's eye twitched with the obvious lie.

"May I come in?"

Trixie hesitated for several moments, but soon resigned with a sigh. She might as well let her mother see the true mayhem that this house had suffered. Trixie slowly opened the door the rest of the way and stepped aside, allowing her mother to come inside and see what had become of the house.

Serenity gasped as she took in the sight, her eyes growing wide. Trixie cringed, already bracing herself for the coming lecture. "Trixie Lulamoon," Serenity began sternly, "you had the nerve, the _audacity_, to throw a wild house party . . ." Trixie whimpered, knowing that she was going to get a horrible tongue-lashing. ". . . without inviting me?"

Trixie blinked, now looking at her mother with shock written across her expression. The others gave the older unicorn a similar look. ". . . Come again?" Trixie asked, questioning whether or not she heard her mother correctly.

"I would have loved to join the party," Serenity said, smiling. "My doctor has been telling me that I need to loosen up, anyway. Need to ease up on the stress, you know. It's not good for an old mare like me."

"So you . . . you, y-you . . ." Trixie stammered before simply letting her mouth hang open.

Serenity chuckled, gently closing her daughter's mouth. "You shouldn't gape like that, dear. You might catch an unwanted fly or two that way. Let us party, shall we?" Serenity then activated a stereo with her magic, and started dancing to the music before looking to the others. "Come on, dance with me!"

Nightmare Rarity, Nano, and Octavia all looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and danced along with Serenity.

At this point, the shock is too much for Trixie. She fainted, falling over to the side and landing with a light thud.

It was then that Alistar returned, having managed to drag himself all the way back home. He studied the sight that he was met with—the residents of the house aside from Trixie and Iron Will dancing with Trixie's mother, and Trixie in a dead faint on the floor—for a long while before he concluded, "I'm at the wrong house again, aren't I?"

* * *

_**Don't forget to review on your way out~!**_

**Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and each of its characters belong to Hasbro and Lauren Faust.**

**Nano and Alistar belong to DayDreamer95 and MasterOfYourFate.**


End file.
